CoCo Reflections from Michael Marchant:
This Week’s CoCo: Speak to the Future, Not to the Past
There are people that I know that are hard on themselves when they mess something up and I think I know why. There’s a social stigma that makes some feel as if they need to know the answer to everything and these people seem to internalize some kind of shame for even minor inconsistencies. Some even go as far as to hide their mistakes or pass the blame on to someone else.
If you are one of these people, STOP IT. Try to look at mistakes as being a valuable and sometimes necessary part of learning. You should not be afraid of failing or be ashamed to fail. One of the most freeing things that you can do for yourself is to admit when you mess up, forgive yourself, and move on with the knowledge to avoid the mistake again. Be informed by the past and leave it behind.
We work in the coffee business. Nothing you do on a day to day basis is going to cause the end of the world. And if I’m wrong about that, I would like to nominate you to do the next round of Core Commitment Reflections. You must have some crazy stories!
Next Week’s CoCo: Be a Hero, Find a Hero
My team is lousy with heroes.
I have a sincere appreciation for the people I get to interact and collaborate with on a daily basis. Working in Production is a physically tough job that requires a tremendous amount of communication, planning, and having to make decisions on the fly. We are diligently receiving daily deliveries of coffee, packaging, merchandise, cafe and office supplies, etc. We roast the coffee and keep our cafes stocked. We provide coffee and cafe supplies for dozens of local businesses and countless individuals all over the country purchase from our website. Most things that you use in your working day-to-day pass through our hands first.
The workload in Production is seemingly never ending and it can be hard to have the time to celebrate each other for all of the good we do day to day. So I just want to say thanks to everyone on my team. I see you and you are great.
CoCo Heroes:
- Speak to the Future, Not to the Past: This Core Commitment Hero comes from the Downer Cafe – Maya S! She comes into work every shift with a great attitude and willingness to work. Maya S. is great with dealing with our hard customers and going onto the next customer with a smile on her face. Way to go, Maya!
- Be a Hero, Find a Hero: This Core Commitment Hero comes from the Delafield Cafe – Mitchel Kunde! Mitchel has been an outstanding team member over the last few days while Grace is out on PTO, and is a shining star in “Be a Hero, Find a Hero.” He has continued to be a great source in sharing tips and tricks with his coworkers while Grace is out and has been able to troubleshoot problems and work with Alexis when gaps come up. Mitchel also has been a hero to his team by stepping up and crushing checklist tasks and all six steps. Thanks, Mitchel!! And another from the Delafield Cafe – Tricia Kovochich! She is a great example of “Be a Hero, Find a Hero”. DF has been short on weekends this summer and Tricia has been filling in on Saturdays even though she doesn’t normally work on Saturdays. It has been so helpful. She also is never shy to tell others how thankful she is for them and makes them feel like heroes as well!
Coffee Talk: Harvest
- What’s in this coffee?
- Jinotega, Nicaragua
- How long has this been the coffee in this coffee?
- This seasonal offering has been 100% Nicaragua since 2017!
- How does this roast affect the flavor experience?
- The medium roast allows us to highlight the sweet cocoa notes and the creaminess of cashews while uplifting the citric acidity and subtle floral aroma.
- Why does it have this name?
- The name suggests we sit back and celebrate all that has been accomplished while enjoying what our hard work has created.
Going-Ons:
- Coffee Geeks Cycle Challenge | Brewing Change: Stone Creek Coffee is thrilled to be supporting Radar Vandentoorn, one of our Factory Cafe baristas, in their Brewing Change initiative! During the month of September, Radar will be participating in the Great Cycle Challenge to end childhood cancer and is excited to assemble a team of Coffee Geeks to join them. Please see a note from Radar below with more details about how you can join their team! Stone Creek Coffee will also be matching SCC team member donations up to $500 total for those who wish to participate by donating rather than riding! Please forward your donation receipts to teams@stonecreekcoffee.com.
- Every year, I participate in the Great Cycle Challenge to help raise money for the Children’s Cancer Research Fund. This year, I wanted to invite all of you to participate with me through Brewing Change! Our team is called Coffee Geeks.How does Great Cycle Challenge work? You set yourself a ride target and pedal it down over the month, logging your miles via a free app which is linked to your personal rider page. You can ride on or off road or on a stationary bike at home. You can also link your Great Cycle Challenge app to Strava or Map My Ride to track miles or manually enter them. To join our team, check out our team page here. I hope you can join Coffee Geeks and pedal with us this September to help end childhood cancer.
- Employee Council Feedback & Follow-up: Every other month Eric, our Managing Director, meets with the Employee Council which includes a representative from each area of the company to learn what is going well and what may need work in our spaces. This feedback is then reviewed and corresponding commitments are made. As a result of this work in July, we were able to address a number of work areas including some site specific equipment fixes and more which can be found below. If you have any hot or not items you would like to share outside of NSL Workshops, please do not hesitate to connect with your team’s Employee Council representative or reach out to teams@stonecreekcoffee.com.
- Almond Croissant product return update
- The Almond Croissant is being replaced by the new Almond Danish, dropping with Fall Launch on 8/25! The Almond Danish is much more manageable for our Bakery team to produce, and still celebrates the classic flavors and textures we loved in the almond croissant.
- Ideas for Products: Parfait (bring back), Ginger Snaps, healthy items, nut mix, bags of granola
- We are planning to continue to incorporate inclusive options such as vegan and gluten free items. We also plan to bring in ginger snaps as a larger cookie in our Holiday launch. Lastly we’ll keep healthy options like nut mixes, parfaits, and granola in mind, but they are not in the mix currently due to the fact that we are not in a place to expand our offerings too quickly.
- Request for cupping tools in cafe
- Riley is working on a tasting kit for cafes. This kit will include tasting wheels, a tongue guide, a coffee map, cupping bowls + spoons, and a guide to cupping. Cafes can expect these by 9/8.
- Request for team meetings 3-4x per year either during NSL Workshops or other
- We plan to have onsite, team-specific NSL workshops again in November, with a section for team meetings at the end. Team Leaders are also encouraged to schedule team meetings in advance of big seasonal launches, major operational changes and/or leadership transitions. Additionally, Cafe Team Meeting requests are now reviewed monthly by the Master Coach group to ensure they occur regularly.
- Review our current straw. Is there a better solution on the market for green-friendly straw? Avocado straw?
- We will be testing an Agave Straw.
- Product Request: Sip Lids
- Sip Lids are back in stock and we are working to decide next steps when we get another straw sample
- Training and drink clarification for iced drinks: Why do we weigh ice in some but not others?
- Moving forward with Fall Launch, the only drinks that will require ice to be weighed are frozen lattes for consistency!
- V60 recipe audit and process update
- 1. At this time, we will not be updating our v60 recipe/process.
- 2. Cafes should have a small laminated card for updating grind sizes on their grinder. Riley will email coaches if a small batch requires a grind size that’s not 14. If your cafe is missing this tool, please reach out to Riley (risaac@stonecreekcoffee.com).
- 3. If you notice your v60s are brewing slower for customers, please brew one with your coach and email Riley with the brew time.
- Almond Croissant product return update
Wins & Shout-outs:
Did you know that we have some major talent in our SCC Crew?
- Sep 8th – Bremen Cafe
- Sep 16th – Rockstar Saloon
- Oct 30th – X-ray Arcade (Halloween edition!)
A Shout-out from Employee Celebrations: Ever since the initial onset of COVID-19 in 2020, we’ve had a great deal of special projects to work through with our accounting team. There’ve been stimulus bills, tax credits, audits, and reporting requirements that have happened or changed behind the scenes. While so much of this work isn’t seen by the vast majority of our teams, it has impacted SCC immensely. So, we wanted to give Garrett, Mathew, and Anna a huge shout-out for their work to keep this part of our business running smoothly. They always conduct their business with grace and care for their coworkers. Thanks for all you do for the rest of us Accounting Team!
Email the Employee Celebration Committee (celebrations@stonecreekcoffee.com) if you’d like to recognize or celebrate a teammate. Or if you want to make a public shout-out, email Val (vnewhouse@stonecreekcoffee.com) to include in the next Employee Newsletter!
Birthdays:
- 8/29 – Gabija Mackonyte
- 8/29 – Molly Persin
- 8/30 – Anna Oelerich
- 8/31 – Radar Vandentoorn
- 9/14 – Silken Bayer
- 9/4 – Miguel Martinez
- 9/5 – Deborah Strauss
- 9/6 – Joseph Steiner
- 9/12 – Madisen DeBord
- 9/14 – Cole Kirkendall
- 9/17 – Gracie Pionek
- 9/25 – Noah Culbreth
- 9/29 – Drew Pond
Anniversaries:
- Silken Bayer – 8 years!
- Elena Caceres – 3 years!
- Bradley Cope – 1 year!
- Kim Dunn – 11 years!
- Payson East – 1 year!
- Jenai Ellner – 3 years!
- Mercy Garsombke – 1 year!
- Claire Gorman – 1 year!
- Eva Hagen – 7 years!
- Arabella Husson – 1 year!
- Aaron Johnson – 3 years!
- Saragrace Johnson – 3 years!
- Mitchel Kunde – 1 year!
- Sarah Lechtenberg – 1 year!
- Kailey Lesser – 1 year!
- Mathew Mahnke – 4 years!
- Garrett McGowan – 4 years!
- Daniel Murray – 1 year!
- Olivia O’Neill – 6 years!
- Stuart Rosenthal – 1 year!
- Brooke Sherman – 2 years!
- Radar Vandentoorn – 1 year!
- Austin Wood – 1 year!
Welcomes:
- Michelle Lunak – Delafield
- Morgan E. Cardinali – Glendale
- Jenna Knapp – Wauwatosa
- Gretta Zellmer – Harwood
- Elizabeth Stricker – Factory
- Leilani Ramirez – Downer
Employee Discount Codes:
Please don’t share these with non-employees
- 20% Employee-Only Website Coupon Code
- August: Aug22sccemp
- September: Sep22sccemp
- 40% Employee-Only Mobile App Coupon Code
- August: Aug22sccemp
- September: Sep22sccemp
Catch up on all of our newsletters, company updates, recipes, and more in our Employee Blog here.
Ways to Speak Up:
Do you want to speak up about ideas, thoughts, and more? Send an email to Teams & People (teams@stonecreekcoffee.com) or use the button below to send a note anonymously.